Pavin shares lead at Buick Open
2008-06-27 09:54
Michigan - Corey Pavin, Bo Van Pelt and Dudley Hart each fired a bogey-free 8-under-par 64 to share the lead after Thursday's opening round of the $5m PGA Buick Open.
Searching for his first title since the 2006 season, Pavin parred the first four holes before carding a birdie on six of his next eight holes at Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club.
"It's a putter I got in 1984, brand new," Pavin said. "And I started using it then. I used it for quite a while. Probably up until about the middle of '95. And then it took a break until last year. So it was on the bench for over a decade, basically.
"And I brought it back out. I thought I'd try it. And it's been working pretty good since then. So, so far, so good. So I will just keep using it."
Van Pelt, who is still searching for his first championship on the PGA Tour, recorded six birdies and eagled the par-5 seventh hole to earn a share of the lead.
"I had a couple of good rounds here," Van Pelt said. "I think two years ago, I was in pretty good shape after two days and didn't play very well on the weekend. And I've had some good rounds. Haven't carried it forward through all four days.
Season opener
"And I like the golf course. And I grew up in Indiana, small town, and played a lot of golf courses that looked similar to this. And so it's kind of good to get back to familiar surroundings.
Briny Baird, who also played bogey-free on Thursday, is tied with Sweden's Daniel Chopra at 7-under. Chopra won the PGA Tour season opener at Mercedes-Benz championship.
Canadian Jon Mills, England's Kenneth Ferrie, Woody Austin and Japan's Shigeki Maruyama are all tied at 6-under.
Rocco Mediate, the US Open runner-up, struggled down the stretch Thursday en route to a 1-under 71.
Playing in his first event since his heartbreaking 19-hole playoff loss to Tiger Woods, Mediate bogeyed Nos. 11, 15 and 17 to fall into a tie for 47th place.
"I need some rest. I haven't been able to get some rest," said Mediate, who also was the 2000 Buick champion. "I'll get it. I'm not complaining. I just need to get some rest."